After Twitter went crazy Wednesday over an AP report that President Trump had threatened to invade Mexico, consider double-checking any “BREAKING” news item from the Associated Press before retweeting it to the world.
Quite a few news outlets Thursday anxiously reported that the House of Representatives had voted 235-180 to roll back background checks for gun purchases.
BREAKING: House votes to roll back Obama rule on background checks for gun ownership.
— The Associated Press (@AP) February 2, 2017
This will allow people with mental illnesses so severe they are on permanent disability to buy guns. https://t.co/fTtPmKWlDy
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) February 2, 2017
Not true. @AP is joining @CNN in the #fakenews business. #Sad. https://t.co/Fnkfbg4d1r
— NRA (@NRA) February 2, 2017
#FakeNews. No change to background check requirements. Removes flagging method opposed by mental health experts. @NatlGunRights @GunOwners https://t.co/STnewdBDcB
— Donny Ferguson ? (@DonnyFerguson) February 2, 2017
This is wildly misleading. House rolled back one rule that was much-criticized by doctors and disability advocates. https://t.co/X3G6GU1mWr
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 2, 2017
That rule applied to Americans on social security disability allowance and would have removed 2A rights without solid due process.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 2, 2017
https://twitter.com/AmandaCarey1/status/827270570337148929
The headlines all seem to be similarly vague:
BREAKING: US House of Representatives has voted to roll back background checks for gun ownership
— The Spectator Index (@spectatorindex) February 2, 2017
Recommended
House strikes down Obama-era regulation that blocked gun sales to mentally ill https://t.co/QCuVgpudHb pic.twitter.com/WphohxoFl4
— The Hill (@thehill) February 2, 2017
Former Hillary Clinton spokesperson Jesse Lehrich quoted a passage from USA TODAY to spread the news that the House had voted explicitly to allow schizophrenics to buy firearms.
NEW RULE: Don't pass laws *explicitly* allowing schizophrenics to buy guns & then lecture me on national security.https://t.co/xNLVxHuBQj pic.twitter.com/EXu8zUEKvX
— Jesse Lehrich (@JesseLehrich) February 2, 2017
Not surprisingly, the NRA wasn’t happy with the way the vote was being portrayed, and the organization even called out Sen. Dianne Feinstein specifically.
Senate may vote today to weaken background checks on gun purchases. Call your Senator to oppose this change—ensure your voice is heard!
— Senator Dianne Feinstein (@SenFeinstein) February 2, 2017
You are a sitting senator. Shouldn't you make sure your tweets are accurate? https://t.co/3nsezAx0Rv
— NRA (@NRA) February 2, 2017
Friction between the NRA and Democrats in Congress is nothing new, but something’s going on here. Obviously, there’s more to the story than Congress voting to weaken background checks.
https://twitter.com/weareintently/status/827228168641732608
Amanda Carey Elliott does social media for the NRA.
https://twitter.com/AmandaCarey1/status/827244074029682691
https://twitter.com/AmandaCarey1/status/827271587896258562
That is a blatant lie. Vote was to stop listing seniors & veterans as banned gun owners b/c someone else handles their SS/VA benefits #PJNET https://t.co/8zXZ8bGgE8
— Donny Ferguson ? (@DonnyFerguson) February 2, 2017
Absolutely no change to background check requirement.
When will you retract this fake report?#rkba #reddit #tcot #teaparty #FakeNews https://t.co/8zXZ8bGgE8
— Donny Ferguson ? (@DonnyFerguson) February 2, 2017
Pamela Jablonski of Twitchy sister site Bearing Arms reported on the legislation earlier this week.
Reversal of Social Security Gun Law on Congressional Agenda https://t.co/bhGiiFpqC3
— Bearing Arms (@BearingArmsCom) January 31, 2017
Jablonski writes, “identifying who is and isn’t violent has to be determined through due process of the law or by emergency court order.”
Under the law, the SSA has to provide the National Instant Criminal Background Check System database a list of recipients eligible and receiving SSI insurance based upon criteria they have determined makes a person mentally ill; thereby creating an unsubstantiated association of mental illness and a propensity to violence. This blanket decision – without any history, medical, or psychological determination on a per-person/case-by-case basis – is a generalization, based upon the type of disability a recipient receives.
So, no, neither the House nor the NRA is working explicitly to arm schizophrenics but to keep law-abiding citizens from being swept up in an wide net woven from the Social Security Administration’s red tape.
You cannot take away a Constitutional right without providing due process. Period. https://t.co/efMaUoOtjP #SSAGunGrab #2A
— NRA (@NRA) February 2, 2017
The rule, for those interested, cast as mentally incapable anyone who couldn’t manage his own finances. It was criticized on Left and Right.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 2, 2017
So now hundreds of thousands of people will think Congress repealed the Brady Bill. And that’s deliberate. The AP did that deliberately.
— Charles C. W. Cooke (@charlescwcooke) February 2, 2017
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